Back to the Past
by Spike868
Summary: Angel, Spike and Wesley are transported back through time and end up in 1753. Obviously, things don't go according to ANY plan. Set sometime during Angel Season 5. Minor alterations made with help of a respected reader.
1. Chapter 1

Back to the... Past

Summary: Angel, Spike and Wesley get transported back in time to 1753; the year that Angel was sired. However, things don't go according to plan as the three men are arrested and sentenced to death. As the night approaches when Angel was sired along with the sentencing for death; this trip down memory lane may be Angel's last.

Disclaimer: As usual, I own nothing. Props go to Joss. As always.

**Chapter One**

Angel and Spike were fighting as usual. "Spike, you just don't understand." Angel casually strolled through the Wolfram and Hart building on his way to his office.

"Don't understand? What's not to understand?" Spike shot back. "All you have to do is give me a damn office like everyone else in this God-forsaken place has. I'm left out Angel, and frankly I don't like it."

Angel stopped and spun around, stopping Spike dead in his tracks. "Then you're just going to have to get used to it, Spike."

Spike growled. "Oh! For crying out loud will you just give me _something_?" He cried. "You've got _everything_! Fancy cars, an expensive penthouse, a high-paying job _and_ all those lackey's to do your dirty work for you."

"I don't have _dirty work_ to do Spike." Angel continued into his office before pausing and looking back at Spike. "And they're not lackeys." He answered, sounding almost hurt. He pushed open his office doors and walked inside, half-slamming the door shut behind him; conveniently, in Spike's face.

Spike pushed it back open before it had fully closed and quickly followed his sire inside. "Angel, you've got to give me something. I've got nowhere to go but here."

"Then find somewhere to go. _Anywhere_ but here." Angel sat down at his desk and began flipping through papers, trying to ignore Spike.

"I _can't_." Spike repeated.

"I meant somewhere else in the building, Spike." Angel sneered. "I don't want you here."

"Can you give me _anything_?" Spike pressed. Angel looked up from his notes and glared.

"No." Spike finally gave up and stormed off, bumping into Wesley as he tried to enter into Angel's office at the same time Spike was leaving.

"Spike." Wesley greeted with nothing more than a name before he was interrupted.

"Move it, English." Spike growled, and Wesley stepped aside. He and Angel exchanged glances before Wesley approached to show Angel the reason he had come all this way up to his office.

"What on Earth is that?" Angel demanded, looking at the oddly-shaped ball in Wesley's hands. He handed it to Angel. It was silver, round and at some parts was slightly pointed. It was about the size of a rockmelon, with a flattened top and bottom.

"I'm not sure what it is exactly. It came to Human Resources earlier this morning and well, we haven't been able to figure out much of anything about it."

"Does it do anything?" Angel asked.

"Nothing we've found out already. All we know is that it's a rather impressive-looking paperweight - that is, if you don't already have one." Wesley smiled casually.

"Wes, what exactly did you need to show me this for?" Angel asked, sounding a little impatient and slightly annoyed. "Well, I was hoping you might be able to help us identify what it is."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"Well, there's an inscription on the top and I thought maybe you could help me figure out what it means."

"Don't you know the language? Can't you interpret it?"

"Well I can but I don't know what it means, exactly."

"Exactly?" Angel repeated.

"Well, it's written in Gaelic. Its translation is: _from day to day my journey, from night to night my journey_; but then I can't figure out the rest. I thought you might know some Gaelic text from when you were human. Do you recognise anything?"

Angel squinted at the text, trying to read the small print etched into the silver ball. "I think it says: _through time and space I recognise these places I have seen_."

"Are you sure?" Wesley asked.

"Well, not exactly, but I haven't seen text like this for over 150 years. I might be a little rusty." Angel stared at the ball again and had another shot at the writing. "_From day to day my journey, from night to night my journey; through time and space I recognise these places where I've been_." The ball buzzed in Angel's hands and he dropped it. Jumping to his feet, Angel stepped back; as did Wesley. They both stared as the centre of the ball separated and split the ball in half. The top half slowly rose, and as Angel and Wesley leant in to have a look a light flashed from inside the ball.

For a second there was nothing but the blinding blue light. Wesley and Angel both found themselves blinking several times before they regained their vision.

"What was that all about?" Angel asked, looking up at a puzzled Wesley.

"Clearly this thing is a little more... advanced than I'd expected for the time period."

"There were still demons around back then Wes; something probably created this. But the question now isn't what does it do, but what is it?"

Outside Angel's office, Spike had made his way back up again deciding to tell Angel he'd given up. He knocked on the door and strolled right in. "Angel, I've given up on you so I'll be in my basement if anything comes up."

"Spike, I don't need to tell you if anything comes up." Angel said flatly. "Get out." Spike rolled his eyes and headed out of the room when the silver ball began whirring. He turned around slowly as he eyed the ball on Angel's desk.

"What is that little do-hickey?" Spike demanded. "And what is it doing?"

"We don't..." Angel began, mesmerised by the device as a dim light grew inside it. Spike approached and the three men leant in to get a better look only to hear a crack and see another bright flash of light. This time the light was not blue, but white. It was blinding and it took almost a minute before Angel, Wesley and Spike could see again.

"Oh God..." Wesley was the first to be able to see clearly. Angel and Spike soon followed. "Where are we?" Wesley asked.

"Good question." Spike answered, looking around. Angel and Wesley did the same, discovering they were in a vastly different location to Wolfram and Hart. There were dirt streets and cobblestone corners; stone and old-brick houses and a low-hanging fog sitting just above the rooves.

"We've... gone back in time." Wesley stated. "Or very far into the future... _very_ far."

"I think you got it right the first time." Angel said as he peered through a window in the building beside them. Through the stained-glass he could make out people inside. The one he recognised made him gasp.

It was himself.

Author's Note: A little thing that came into my head, I though I'd give it a whirl. Reviews are welcome, as is constructive criticism.

Note: this chapter has been altered. Thanks MysticWolf1 for all your help.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Wesley and Spike peered through the window Angel stood gawking at to see exactly what he saw. They both saw Angel, but it was the Angel of the past.

"Liam?" Spike queried, receiving a stern glare from the real Angel.

"Spike..." He warned, and Spike was quiet. It was the only time he had ever listened to his sire.

"Angel, do you know when this is?" Wesley asked.

Angel gulped. "Yeah, Wes, I know when this is." He squinted to look further inside and saw that Liam was actually coming out. "Hide!" He cried, rushing past Wesley and Spike to hide around the back of the building. They darted down a small alley and hid in the shadows.

"That beauty was one of a kind Seamus." They heard Liam cackle as he strolled out into the street. He obviously had someone with him, but it was difficult to see because he hadn't walked out fully into view in the square.

"I know Liam, but I saw that she was dartin' her eyes your way several times this night." Seamus replied.

"I hope she'll be there ta'morrow so I can see 'er again." Liam continued as the two men staggered through to dirt square out the front of the pub. "I think I'd best be headin' home before father accuses me of anythin'. I'll be seein' you ta'morrow night then Seamus."

Angel, Spike and Wesley watched as Liam staggered in the direction of home. "My God Angel, you were such a wanker!" Spike cried, a little too loudly. Seamus heard them and spun around to look in the direction of where the sound came from. Quickly the three men ducked back into the shadows out of view but Seamus approached anyway. He was an adventurous lad, but hanging around with Liam would make someone like that.

"Is somebody there?" Seamus called as he got closer. Angel pushed Spike back into Wesley as they inched away from the entry to the alley.

"Run." Angel whispered to Spike as Seamus got closer. They both pushed Wesley out to the other side of the alley and ducked around the corner. Seamus peered into the alley to find no one, and sighed. "Could'a sworn I heard somebody." He said to himself, turning and walking the other direction.

Angel sighed and pressed his back against the wall of the back of the pub. Spike and Wesley stood watching. "That was close guys. We've got to get out of here."

"Not so fast men." A strong male voice spoke. Angel, Spike and Wesley looked around in the darkness until they spotted a man.

"Constable Brown," Angel greeted. "So good ta' see you." He put on his Irish accent, recognising the man instantly. The Constable had given him a lot of trouble back when he was human.

"Young Liam, what are you doing out at this un-Godly hour of the night?" The Constable asked.

"I could ask you the same question, sir." Angel answered.

"Don't be smart with me, boy." He warned. "Or I'll go and take you home to your father right now."

"I'm not a boy anymore Constable Brown, I'm a man and I'm of legal age ta' drink. I think it's best you just leave me ta' do my own things at night and worry about somebody else."

"I have to worry about everyone who's out at night young Liam, so don't tell me how I should be doing my job." Constable Brown snapped.

"My apologies sir, I should be headin' home anyway. I'll just see my friends home first." He gestured towards Spike and Wesley to his right.

"And who are these fine gentlemen _friends_ of yours, Liam?"

"William, sir." Spike answered, following Angels lead.

"Wesley." Wes answered hesitantly.

"Englishmen? I didn't know you associated with the English, boy? You always made such a huff about them in pubs."

"Yes, well, I'm broadening my horizons." Angel answered awkwardly.

"Excuse me?" Constable Brown asked.

"I'm trying new things, sir." Angel corrected himself.

"Right, well tell me how that works out for ya' boy. They're not too popular with many folk here. I guess I'll be seein' ya' ta'morrow night then, right boy?"

"Right Constable." Angel answered quickly, trying to get rid of the man questioning them.

"Tell me lads, where did you get those clothes?"

"These clothes?" Spike repeated, fishing for an answer. "My... my mother made them for us back in England. I though I'd bring some for Liam."

"Well they're the daftest things I think I've ever seen lads. No offence son, but tell your mother she might want to make you something a little more... normal." The Constable snickered and walked off.

"_Normal_?" Spike snarled in a whisper to Wesley and Angel. "What's wrong with the way we dress? _I_ dress?"

"Spike, shut up and get back into the alley now." Angel ordered, pushing him and Wesley back into the shadows. They huddled in the middle of the alley, hidden from view. "We're in trouble." Angel told the others. "We need to get out of here. We need to get back to Wolfram and Hart."

"Sorry to break it to you Angel but I don't think that's gonna be easy." Spike said. "If you hadn't noticed, where about 200 years too early for the modern-day Wolfram and Hart!"

"Spike, keep your voice down." Wesley warned. "We can't risk bumping into anyone else in this time or things could really get bad."

"Bad?" Angel repeated. "_Bad_? Wesley, we've seen the human version of me, one of my friends _and_ the Constable of this time. There couldn't possibly be anyone worse to bump into."

"What about your father?" Wesley suggested.

"There is _no_ chance we're going to see him." Angel answered instantly. He did _not_ want to see his father.

"How can you be sure?" Spike asked. "As I remember it you had family issues when you were human. Are you able to avoid everyone who knows about it?"

"Spike, we're not going to talk to anyone else."

"Then how are we going to get out of here? How are we going to get home?" Wesley asked.

"Wes, I told you that silver ball thing must have been created by a demon back in this Century. All we have to do is work out a little bit more about it and find whoever or whatever made it."

"You think it's that simple, Angel?" Wesley asked. "It's _not_ that simple. We don't know anything about it, I told you that when I brought it to you. All we knew was what the text meant."

"And it brought us here. Why?"

"Well, what happened in this time? Did something huge take place in this year?" Wesley paused. "You still haven't told us when this is exactly. You said you knew."

"I do." Angel answered.

"Well would you like to tell us?" Spike pushed.

"The year is 1753. In a few days I meet Darla. Two nights later, I follow her into an alley and she sires me."

"This is the year you were sired?" Wesley repeated.

"Yes."

"Well we have to stay out of sight and out of trouble. If anyone sees us we could jeopardise the future."

"What do you mean?" Spike asked, a little confused.

"If something happens to Liam, it could change whether or not you get sired, Angel." Angel put two-and-two together and realised what Wesley was saying.

"If Liam doesn't get turned in about a week's time, then Spike and I don't exist."

Author's Note: Chapter two up. I'll try and get some action in the next few chapters, so just hang in there!

Note: this chapter has been altered. Thanks MysticWolf1 for all your help.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"You've got to be joking Angel." Spike almost spat his comment. "We have to get out of here!"

"I told you that already. We can't stay here; it's not safe for us. If _anybody_ else sees us then we'll be in bigger trouble than we're already in."

"Well I think we should change our clothes as well." Wesley suggested. "We've been asked about them once, and if we happen to see anyone else by accident then we definitely won't fit in."

"Alright. We need to sneak into somebody's house and grab some." Angel replied. "I know that I can get into my own house, but you two need something as well."

"We can't just break into somebody's house, Angel." Wesley snapped. "It's the middle of the night and we'd probably wake somebody."

"You remember Seamus we saw a little while ago?" Angel asked. He received generally nods. "He's the Blacksmith's son. He leaves for work every morning very early, before dawn. If we wait outside his house for him to go then I can sneak in and get you both some clothes."

"I'm not wearing somebody else's jocks Angel." Spike snarled in a whisper.

"Then just find some pants and a shirt. It's simple guys, and we don't have a lot of time to figure it out. We've only got a few hours before sunrise and we have to find somewhere to hide during the day inside that time."

"All right Angel, we don't have much of a choice so let's get moving." Wesley said. "Spike, you're just going to have to deal with any of your issues. Angel, show us the way."

"Here he comes." Angel whispered as the Blacksmith's son left the house with his father early in the morning. "Wait here." He quickly rushed inside the little cottage.

He remembered where Seamus' room was and made his way towards the door, opening it slowly. It creaked softly, but once inside Angel pulled it closed behind him to conceal himself.

Angel pulled open drawers and grabbed two pairs of pants and two white shirts. Through Seamus' opened window he pushed the clothes out and spoke to Spike and Wesley.

"Do they fit?" He whispered. Seamus was about their size so he hoped the clothes would fit.

"Snugly." Wesley answered.

"Mine are great." Spike replied sarcastically, although the clothes actually did fit him well. Now the two Englishmen matched the attire of the time period, and it was only Angel they had left to worry about.

He snuck back out of Seamus' room and out of the small cottage, meeting with Spike and Wesley around the side of the house. They really looked the part now in the other boy's clothes.

"We don't have much longer before sunrise Angel." Wesley pointed out. "We have to get to your house quickly."

"Okay, come on." Angel led them to his house, and once there he snuck in the back door and found Liam sleeping peacefully in his room. He couldn't help for a few moments to just stand there and stare at the human version of himself. He had forgotten what it was like, and seeing himself like this again was a little off-putting.

Quietly, Angel went straight to the drawer he remembered his clothes to be in and pulled out some pants and a shirt. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Liam stirring and could stop himself from smiling. _It's me_. He thought a little sadly. _This is who I was. I was normal, average and... human_.He got to his feet and left the room, buttoning up his shirt as he was sneaking through the kitchen.

He gasped suddenly and froze as he heard footsteps across the stone floor and ducked around a corner as he saw his younger sister Kathy heading out the back door to the outhouse. Looking at her he suddenly remembered everything about her. The smells she always carried with her, hear beauty and her innocence. He sighed and paused before followed her out, disappearing as quickly as he came to where Spike and Wes were waiting around the side of the house for him.

"What took you so long?" Spike snapped.

"I had to take a minute..." Angel replied.

"To do what, exactly?"

"I saw my sister."

"Oh." Wesley spoke as Spike froze. "Wait, did she see you?"

"No. I just... remembered everything..." He whispered. "About myself as well. I saw me. My room. I just... I had to take a minute."

"It's all right Angel, but we have to move." Wesley said. "Where are you clothes?" Angel presented his modern-day clothes and Wesley took them, stashing them where his own and Spike's were behind a shrub under Liam's window.

"Come on. We've got to leave town and find somewhere to wait out the day." Wesley whispered as he could sense sunrise approaching fast; and Spike and Angel could sense it too.

"I know where we can go." Angel told them. "It's still in town and it's very risky, but we don't have many options right now. Just follow me and be quick."

Angel led Spike and Wesley to a large cream-coloured stone building. A wooden sign hung above the door.

"Police?" Spike cried. "You're going to hide us in the same building as that Constable we ran into earlier?"

"Spike, shut up and head around the back." Angel ordered. "There's a small shed out the back where we can hide. There are tools and things in there because it's Constable Brown's. He lives next door."

"_Next_ _door_?" It was Wesley's turn to protest. "Angel I know you said this was risky but what if he comes into the tool shed? What if he finds us?"

"Well we just have to hope that he won't." Angel answered quickly. "There's no way we can get out of town and to a safe place before sunrise, there simply isn't enough time. We have to hide somewhere _now_."

Wesley and Spike sighed, realising that they weren't going to win. "Fine, but if we get caught I'm gonna stake you Angel." Spike threatened.

"Try me." Angel returned the threat and the three men rushed around the back of the building and found the shed. It was small; about three metres by two and just big enough for them to sit comfortably around the tools hanging off the wall and resting on the ground.

Angel pried open the door and snuck inside, allowing Spike and Wesley to creep in before he closed it. Spike instantly went and sat in the far corner, receiving a glare from Angel for his childish actions. Wesley sat beside the door, leaning against the wall and Angel sat on a wooden box leaning against another wall.

"What about that window up there?" Spike asked, pointing to a small window above Angel's head.

"When the sun moves during the day we'll just have to move around a bit." Angel replied. Spike rolled his eyes and Angel heard Wesley sigh.

"This is ridiculous. We're hiding like criminals... like _animals_." Wesley moaned.

"No, Wes, we're hiding so Spike and I don't fry out there in the sun."

"Well what are we going to do for a whole day?" Wesley continued. "I could be out there trying to find out about that ball while you two hide."

"I thought you said we couldn't find anything about it?" Angel repeated Wes' earlier comment. "You said it wasn't as simple as just finding who made it."

"Well it would give me something to do, Angel. Let me ask around the stores and see if anyone knows about an object like that. I could find out a lot more by doing that than spending the whole day here."

Angel sighed, thinking about it. "You have to be very careful Wes. People will be able to tell you don't fit in here because of your accent. You're English, and the Irish don't really get along with the English back in my time."

"I'll tell them I'm visiting to try and find out about the silver ball. I can ask a lot of people, a lot more than you could. People know you Angel; or at least as Liam. They don't know me and they won't question me."

"Wes I have a bad feeling about this." Angel knew he wasn't going to be able to stop Wesley from going out; the man could be stubborn when he wanted to. Wesley's idea wasn't all bad; it was possible that he could find out something about the ball. Then again – he might not.

"Angel, trust me. Let me just try asking some people about it. Maybe they can lead us to where we need to go to find all the information about it."

"Maybe." Angel replied. "They could also arrest you on false charges for absolutely _anything_. Constable Brown had a knack for doing that."

"Really?" Wesley seemed a little intimidated. "Well, I'll be careful."

"I'm serious Wes; this is a very bad idea."

"Angel, it's all we can do right now. And I'm not sitting here all day wasting time. We need to get home."

"I know." Angel sighed. "All right, wait until sunrise and blend with the morning crowd." Wesley nodded and relaxed back against the wall.

"This is going to be a very long day." Spike complained, sighing heavily and unnecessarily.

"Shut up, Spike."

Note: this chapter has been altered. Thanks MysticWolf1 for all your help.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Wesley had been gone for three hours. Angel and Spike had turned to pacing back and forth inside the toolshed as they waited-out the day, and as the hours grew into the day they made a realisation. The sun wasn't going to come out.

It was winter in Ireland, and that meant cloud-cover, dullness and – no sun. Angel pointed it out to Spike before he'd even realised it.

"Do you notice anything, Spike?" He asked.

"Like what?"

"Like, the fact that the sun isn't actually out."

Spike looked out the window. "Well, I'll be damned all over again!" Spike cried almost too joyfully. "Does that mean we can go outside?"

"Spike, calm down." Angel snapped, quickly destroying Spike's hopes. "I think it's best if..." He paused before continuing. "... at least _one _of us stays here."

"Stay here? Why the bloody hell would we want to do that?" Spike cried.

"Because people will recognise us... _me_ if I go out there. Technically, there would be two me's around and I don't want to face the odds that I'll run into someone that will know me, or the human version of me. If you think that you can find Wesley on your own and _not_ get into _any_ trouble then you can go out. But I'm staying here."

Spike covered his heart with his hand in a pledge. "I swear Angel I will _not_ get myself into any trouble." He claimed proudly. Angel shook his head at the stupidity of Spike's comment as he sat back down on his box.

"Go." He mumbled, hanging his head. Spike jumped and was at the door in an instant. Feeling a little guilty, he stopped and looked back at Angel.

"I'm sorry you can't go out." He said almost too sincerely. Angel looked up and saw that Spike was being truly honest. "I don't like you, but I still feel bad about leaving you here."

"I'll still be here when you get back." Angel told him. "Just make sure you _come_ back, _with_ Wesley, and make sure it's _before_ dark."

"Okay Angel. If we find anything about that glowing silver ball you two had back at Wolfram and Hart then we'll come straight back. I know how..." Spike sniggered softly and opened the door. "... _professional_ you are."

Outside Spike found a grey world appear before him, and as he stepped out into it he felt a wave of satisfaction. He hadn't been out in the daytime for so many years, at least not without burning up. He stared up at the sky, feeling the heat of the sun on his skin as it fought its way through the cloud. There was simply too much of it to let the sun through. Spike felt relieved that after all this time he was able to do the one thing he'd never been able to do in over 150 years. He and Angel had missed this; and now he was the only one able to do it again after so long. He felt guilty, but pushed the feeling away and hurried to the main street to look for Wesley.

"Good mornin' sir, can I help you with something?" A middle-aged lady asked Wesley as he entered a small corner-store.

"I'm trying to find out about an object I found in my parents' house back in England." Wesley lied.

"Well what are ya doin' lookin' for it 'ere then lad?" A man asked as he emerged from the back of the store. He was obviously the woman's husband, and he didn't seem to like Wesley that much; his expression and tone said it all. His wife didn't have any problem with Wesley at all.

"Well they told me it was of Irish heritage. Something about ancestry that might have linked back to Galway somewhere around 50 to 100 years ago." Wesley paused, trying to keep his phoney story together. "I was hoping that I might be able to find out something about it."

"Well unless you brought it with you lad there be nothin' we can do for ya." The man leant forward on the countertop.

"I... I don't have it with me, no. You wouldn't have pictures of something _like_ it would you?"

"Well describe what exactly it is that we're lookin' for." The woman asked him.

"It's silver, round and about the size of... that bowl there." Wesley pointed to a round bowl on top of a pile of what he deemed to be trash. "It's flat on the top and bottom and is slightly pointed around the middle. I'm not sure what it does yet, but I'd like to know what it _is_ first."

"I see, well I think I may have seen somethin' like that before." The woman wandered around the front of the counter. "Just give me a second..." She disappeared out the back of the store for a few moments, leaving Wesley and the man alone.

"She's an artist, my wife Ivy." He explained. Ivy soon returned with several brown leather-covered books and laid them on a table.

"These are sketches I made of interesting-lookin' objects that came through this store." She began flipping through the pages gently, looking for the sketch. "One came through a little over a year ago from a family movin' out of Galway who were getting' rid of old things in their house. They said to us that they didn't want it anymore. They said it brought them nothing but bad fortune and wished us luck selling it again."

"Did you sell it?" Wesley asked.

"Strangely, yes. The next day."

"Who bought it?"

"A nice man; wore a long brown robe. He was Irish, but somethin' bout him told me he was from somewhere else."

"So you haven't seen it then?" Wesley pressed. "Since then I mean."

"No, sorry son." The man stepped in. "We never saw that man again neither. All we got left is the picture my wife drew for stock reference."

"Stock? There's more of them?"

"Well that be what we thought lad, but we never seen another one like it again. Must've been a one-of-a-kind piece." The woman stopped flipping through books and settled on one page. She held up the book for Wesley to see, and it was exactly what he was looking for. It was the object he had brought to Angel back at Wolfram and Hart, not knowing a thing about it. And yet here it was, in a drawing in 1753; 250 years earlier.

"That's it, that's the object my parents left behind." Wesley told the couple. "Do you know anything about it?"

"Not much."

"Did the man who bought it say anything about it? Maybe _why_ he wanted it? Or even the people who brought it to you in the first place?"

"The couple who brought it in said their son Matthew had stolen it from an old man. They couldn't much take it back to him and say, 'here's your ball our son stole from ya' now could they?"

"No, I guess not." Wesley quickly agreed.

"But the son came in the day they was leavin' town..." The man added, looking to his wife. She nodded, remembering. "He told us to destroy it and to never let anyone else have it. He couldn't believe that his parents had given it to us."

"Why did you still sell it then?" Wesley asked. "Why did you even take it in the first place if it was a stolen item?"

"We don't get a lot of things to sell in this store." Ivy explained. "Me and Bill take anything we can get, and we're fine with lettin' our customers know that. We hope that some of them will give us things to sell. We took that silver ball thinkin' it would just be another item to sell. We didn't much mind that a young boy tells us it's stolen; it doesn't bother us unless the proper owner comes forward to reclaim it. And that has never happened before. Not once."

"So you sold it in the end." Wesley summed-up.

"Yes." Bill answered.

"What did you think when the boy told you to destroy it?"

"Ha!" Bill scoffed. "Did ya really think we'd listen to a ten year old boy who's telling us an object he _stole_ is evil? How would he know, and plus nobody believes in that stuff. It's fictitious and worthy of bein' burnt at the stake for believe'n in. No, we sold it anyway."

"You said _evil_?" Wesley repeated.

"Yes. The boy claimed it was full of bad spirits. He said they were evil un-dead creatures who controlled the mind and that the man he stole it off gave 'im a curse of bad luck. I thought that boy had too much of an imagination. I'm surprised he wasn't labelled a blasphemer for what he said."

"Do you know what happened with the boy and his family?"

"Word came back into Galway a few weeks later saying the boy was found dead in the woods one mornin'. Somethin' viciously attacked the poor lad and left him for dead."

"Did you think to believe what he was saying when you heard the news?" Wesley was a little shocked at the story that was unravelling behind this small silver ball. He never thought the story could be so twisted.

"No. We just thought it was an unfortunate accident." The man replied. "Why, are you saying that you think he was speakin' the truth? How could you say that?"

"Well I have been witness to some strange... supernatural things in my time." Wesley explained. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but from what you're saying I think I believe that little boy."

Bill and Ivy took a step away from Wesley. They exchanged glances and Wesley saw something in their eyes. Was it fear? Was it shock? Had he said something wrong? They turned and hurried out the back of the store, leaving Wesley alone.

"Hello?" Wesley called. Silence. "Hello?" He gave up, and as he went to leave the store Spike burst in.

"About time I found you." Spike cried. "I've been lookin' all over town for you."

"Spike – what are you doing out? The sun..." Wesley stammered.

"Oh yeah, it's winter here and the sun doesn't come out thanks to all the cloud." Spike explained. "Angel's waiting in the toolshed but since there's no sun I'm not staying cooped-up in there with him."

"Spike, you just _left_ him there?" Wesley cried.

"He said he wasn't going to risk being recognised."

A bell rang; somewhere close. Wesley looked around outside but didn't think much more of it.

"We have to go back. Now."

"Why?"

"Because I found out something important about that silver ball." Wesley replied. "We need to go back so I can tell Angel. If what you're saying is true and the winter sun _doesn't_ affect vampires then Angel should come out so we can leave town before anyone gets suspicious of him."

Wesley and Spike heard shouting outside. Peering through the dirty and dusty windows they saw a small approaching crowd, led by the Constable they had met the night before.

"What do they want?" Spike asked. Wesley's eyes darted to the doorway out the back of the store.

"Uh... I think we should be leaving now..." He suggested, realising that clearly the mob was meant for them.

"Good idea." Wesley pushed Spike to the counter and out the back to find Ivy standing there with her husband by her side. Both held raised axes firmly in their hands and refused to take their eyes off Wesley and the unknown man who had just entered their store.

"Blasphemers. Sorcerers. We should've never trusted you. You'll burn at the stake for your beliefs in the unworldly."

"You've got this all wrong..." Wesley tried to protest as the couple slowly advanced with their weapons raised.

"No, we overheard your conversation." Ivy said. "And after you said you believed that boy's story of the ball bein' evil and containin' wicked spirits of the un-dead we came to a decided conclusion."

"_Decided conclusion_ my ass!" Spike cried. "We're not witches or wizards, we're just ordinary Englishmen." He lied, knowing that there was no way they could prove he was a vampire. Plus, he was right about Wesley being ordinary. Well, ordinary enough.

"We heard you and your blonde English friend talkin' about vampires and leavin' town before you're caught." Bill told them. "Well it's too late lads, your time is up. We spoke Constable Brown is outside with most of the town ready to take you in."

"On what grounds?" Wesley snapped.

"Practising witchcraft."

"How's that exactly? We didn't perform any spells or anything of the sort. Where did you get that idea from?"

"What you said lad." Bill continued. "Dug yourself a grave ya' did. Best you be headin' out the front door to meet the mob and await your death."

"I think we'll be going out the back door, _actually_." Spike dove for Bill's lower body and managed to take him down. Wesley headed after Ivy, who was swinging her axe wildly. He struggled to get past it, soon realising that he could grab Bill's axe while he was down wrestling with Spike. Wes grabbed it and swung it with force at Ivy's axe, knocking it from her hands. He quickly pushed her to the floor and jumped past.

"Spike, run!" Wesley shouted, fighting around shelves and cupboards to the back door. Spike climbed to his feet and followed Wesley, leaping back out into the street. They were lucky; for the moment nobody had seen them.

"This way." Spike tugged on Wesley's shirt and led him down an alley. They ran flat-out for several minutes, ducking behind buildings and into alleys. They jumped over low fences and darted through backyards while people had their backs turned as they did their washing and hung it out to dry.

"We need to get back to Angel." Wesley panted, almost out of breath. Spike stopped behind a small bushy tree and pulled Wesley in for a breather. For the time-being they were out of sight.

"Come on Wes, we can't hang around waiting for those buggers to catch up with us." He was getting impatient waiting for Wesley. "Here's the plan," he began, "we're going to get Angel, leave town and find somewhere we can hide."

"Alright, fine." Wesley coughed. "Just hurry up and go!" He pushed Spike, who broke into a sprint across the neighbouring yard. Wesley was right behind him.

For about 200 metres they ran until they reached the police station and found the toolshed again. Angel was getting bored.

"Angel!" Wesley breathed heavily as he leant his hands on his knees in the doorway to the shed. Spike stood there with no shortness of breath – only lack of it.

"What's going on?" Angel demanded, jumping to his feet. "What's wrong?"

"The townsfolk think we're witches." Spike explained. "They've got the cops out looking for us along with the whole town in a kind of... _army_."

"What did you do, Spike?" Angel accused immediately.

"Hey!" Spike protested.

"I said to stay out of trouble."

"I tried!"

"It's not his fault Angel, the owners of a store we were in overheard us talking and accused us of being practisers of witchcraft."

"Are they coming here?" Angel asked. "Did they follow you?"

"We lost them when we left the shop." Wesley answered. "But just because we didn't see them doesn't mean they're not coming."

"Then we have to leave. Now. If they're coming, then we can't stay here."

"Alright, but where are we going to go?" Spike asked. "We leave town, but then what?" Angel pondered the thought as Wesley caught his breath.

"We'll figure that out once we've gotten to safety. Right now, _in town_ is not safe."

"Uh, Angel?" Wesley spoke and Angel raised his eyebrows in response. "I found out something about the silver ball."

"Really? What?" Angel's eyes lit up. _A chance to get home_.

"The couple that I spoke to in the store told me they had seen a silver ball just like the one I described to them; _our_ silver ball."

"And?"

"They said a little boy came in about a year ago and said that he and his family were leaving Galway. They said the boy was killed soon after and his body was found in the woods. Apparently he had claimed that the ball was full of bad spirits and evil un-dead creatures who controlled people's minds."

"Well, at least we know _something_ now." Angel commented, a little sarcastically.

"The man he stole it off gave him a curse of bad luck." Wesley added.

"Great." Spike huffed. "Curses _always_ turn out badly."

"It gives us somewhere to head now." Wesley told the two vampires.

"How's that exactly?"

"Well it was apparently sold to a man in a long brown robe. There won't be many of them around so he should be easy enough to find."

"Well, you'd think." Spike jeered. Wesley simply glared.

"Well anyway, we have to get out of town. Everyone is looking for us." Shouts of protest could be heard outside, approaching fast. Wesley and Spike realised before Angel who it was, and pushed open the door as quickly as they could to get both themselves and Angel out. Instead, they were faced with a mob of townsfolk bearing tools like axes, hammers and pitchforks.

"I think they found us." Angel said flatly. Cornered in the toolshed, Wesley, Angel and Spike were caught.

A/N: apologies about the posting – I kept uploading the wrong file. :P Oops. Well now this is the right one so please review and tell me what you think of this so far.

Note: this chapter has been altered. Thanks MysticWolf1 for all your help.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"Wizards!" Shouted one man, raising his pitchfork.

"Practisers of witchcraft!" Cried another.

"Burn them for their treachery!" An old lady shrieked.

"Die! Die! Die!"

"No!" A bellowing voice silenced the crowd. "Nobody move!" Angel, Spike and Wesley recognised who the loud voice belonged to as a tall well-dressed man stepped forward out of the middle of the crowd.

"Constable Brown." Angel said.

"Liam?" The Constable recognised Liam right away, and Angel had to pretend to be who everyone would think he really was.

"Constable, is there a problem?" Angel tried to put on his best 'Liam' act, with the accent and the impolite remarks.

"I received word only moments ago that yer' two English friends 'ere are practisers of witchcraft. Is this true lads?"

"No." Spike snapped. Roars rose up from the crowd.

"Silence!" Constable Brown shouted. "Let the boys speak on their own behalf." He cleared his throat. "Go on."

"The townsfolk here are mistaken." Wesley continued. "We're just two Englishmen trying to find out about a family heirloom."

"I see, well I was told that there was talkings of supernatural occurrences, vampires and escaping from town before ye' were captured. Is _that_ true?"

Wesley couldn't lie. "Not entirely true, sir." More roars from the crowd came after Wesley had finished speaking.

"Then tell me; what part of it was not true?"

"Well..." Wesley was lost for words and Angel and Spike didn't want to make matters worse so they both kept their mouths shut.

"I see." Constable Brown huffed and reached into his coat to pull out a scroll. "Is there anything you 'ave to say in yer' defence?"

"You've got it all wrong sir, we're just passers-through. We're not who you think we are." Wesley tried to protest on Angel and Spike's behalf, but failed.

"Well I'm sorry gentlemen, but as strangers I cannot believe you so easily; I must believe the people I know and trust." He unrolled the scroll and began reading. "By the power bestowed upon me by the authorities of Ireland, I hereby announce the arrests of these three men. They are to be detained until sentencing where their fate will be decided." He looked over his shoulder to several uniformed officers. "Officers, take the prisoners to their cells."

The three officers stepped forward and took hold of Angel, Spike and Wesley. With force, they were led around to the front of the police station, and inside to single cells. Three adjacent cells against one wall were unlocked, and Wesley was shoved inside the first one. Spike was pushed into the second and Angel in the third.

They were tiny cells, only about two metres square. There was a wooden bench in each, but the bars were unfortunately made out of metal. With effort, it was possible for Spike or Angel to bend the bars enough to escape, but there was very little hope for them at the moment. The whole town was against them.

"Liam, how on earth did ya' get yer'self in with this crowd?" Constable Brown asked Angel as he sat on a bench across from their cells. All three men stood at the bars to their cells and peered out.

"Hey!" Spike protested to the Constable's remark. "There's nothin' wrong with us mate. We're not witches so let us go."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." He answered. "You will have to wait until morning when you'll be tried in public court."

"But everyone is against us!" Wesley cried. "There's no way we'll win. It's not a fair trial."

"Well you'll just have to see in the morning. There's nothing I can do about the situation lads, there are some things about you that just don't add up."

"_Add up_?" Angel inquired.

"Like you, Liam, for example. How did you get into witchcraft?"

"We're not witches!" Spike cried.

"Then how was it two store owners heard you speaking of vampires in their store? _And_ fleeing town before getting caught? To me, that sounds suspicious. Then there were the mentions of you being witness to some... ah... _supernatural_ events."

"You have to believe us Constable Brown, there's nothing suspicious about us at all. We just have things to do."

"_Things_? Such as?"

"Returning home." Angel answered.

"Where are you gonna go Liam? Yer' father's here in Galway. This _is_ yer' home."

"But Wes and Sp... William need to get home to England. Their parents are very ill and they needed to come to Galway to find an important family object to take home with them."

"Yes." Wesley quickly stepped in before Angel pushed a little too far. "That's exactly what I told the couple in that store who claimed to have overheard us talking about vampires."

"And did you?"

"Talk about vampires?" Wesley asked before pausing. "Yes, but not for what you're thinking. An old man we met in the street told us to beware of vampires at night and that maybe we should get out of town." Wesley lied. Constable Brown was beginning to believe his phoney story.

"And what did this man look like?"

"He wore a long brown robe with a hood that covered his face. We met him not long after we bumped into you last night so we couldn't see his face in the dark."

"Well I'll have my officers search the streets for this man in a brown robe. I don't see many robed-men around, not in these parts at least." Constable Brown got to his feet. "You best hope that this man is found because he's most likely yer' only ticket out of here."

"We understand." Wesley stepped back, looking to Spike and Angel to signal for them to do the same. They both picked up on Wesley's action and kept silent, sitting down on the bench in their cells.

The Constable wandered outside, locking the huge wooden door behind him. Wesley, Angel and Spike were alone, and as soon as Constable Brown had left Wesley spoke.

"We have to get out of here."

A/N: More to come, promise. Review please.

Note: this chapter has been altered. Thanks MysticWolf1 for all your help.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"I know we have to get out of here Wes, but how exactly do you suggest we do that?" Angel replied, looking around his cell for a way out. He found none, except for the bars.

"I don't know; you've got vampire strength, just bust yourself out." Wesley shot back. Angel simply glared.

"I thought we were trying to prove to them that we _weren't_ vampires." Angel sneered. "Superhuman strength would kind of give that away, don't you think?"

"Well if we can escape then they won't know, will they?"

While Wesley and Angel argued, Spike was busy looking around outside of his cell. Something caught his eye and made him stop to look twice.

"Hey, look over there." He caught Angel and Wesley's attention and pointed to three drawings hanging on the wall.

"Are they... what I think they are?" Wesley stammered.

"Wolf..." Angel recognised the first picture instantly.

"Ram..." Wesley continued with the second.

"And Hart..." Spike finished, scowling. "Should've known they would have had something to do with that damn silver ball thingy, even back in _this_ time. Probably some evil monk created it for an evil purpose."

"Well _what_ evil purpose might that be, Spike?" Angel asked.

"I don't know, I'm just running with this, all right? It could be for anything, but at least we know that Wolfram and Hart are somehow involved."

"Great. That's _great_ news." Angel grimaced. "Can we just forget about the ball for the moment, and focus on breaking ou..." Angel was interrupted as Constable Brown came back through the front door again, with a young man in tow.

"Lucas, meet our three criminals."

"Now we're _criminals_?" Angel protested. "I thought you said we were witches."

"Well, we're not entirely sure of what you are at this moment lads, but tomorrow everythin' will be sorted out at yer' trial."

"Well if you don't know what we are, then all the more reason to let us go. You have no reason to keep us here." Wesley defended.

"Ah, it's all the more reason to keep you here lads. We don't truly know what yer' capable of yet."

"No, you don't." Angel threatened, a menacing look creeping into his eyes. Constable Brown raised his eyebrows.

"Excuse me, Liam?" He said, almost shocked. "Was that a threat?"

"No sir." Angel answered almost too slowly, his glare slowly disappearing. Constable Brown paused before going on.

"All's well then. I'll leave you in the company of my young assistant Lucas and be headin' home." The Constable smiled. "I'll be seein' ya in the mornin', gentlemen." He nodded, backed away and bowed before turning; almost like a formal departure. He locked the door again as he left and there was nobody but Lucas and the three men left in the room.

"All right then," Lucas began. "I'll be on the other side of the room." He pointed to a desk across the room on the far wall. "I'll be keepin' watch on yer', so don't even think about doin' somethin' mischievous now, okay?"

"No, we wouldn't dream of it." Spike mocked. Lucas simply huffed and retreated to the desk, almost instantaneously beginning to scribble away at papers as he sat down.

"We can't sit here and do nothing." Wesley groaned. "We have to come up with a plan to get out of here."

"Spike and I could work to bend these bars; maybe we can get them free enough for us to escape just before _Lucas_ notices we've done anything." Angel offered, emphasising the assistant's name in a taunting manner.

"Too risky Angel, he might hear you." Wesley replied.

"Well do you have any other ideas?"

"Well, we could..." Wesley began before stopped and answering himself. "No, that won't work." Angel rolled his eyes. "Maybe if we..." He paused again. "No, _very_ bad idea..."

"I have an idea." Spike piped up.

"Do you think it will work?" Wesley inquired.

"Well, it's a pretty bad idea but we seem stuck on good ones right now so it's all we've got." Spike answered.

"Shoot." Angel jumped in, eager to find a way out.

"We wait until morning, when Lucas comes to let us out and your Constable friend comes to take us to trial." Wesley and Angel could already see this was going in a bad direction. "Then we start a fight with them; push 'em to the ground and run like the wind until we're out of town."

'You're right Spike; it is a pretty bad idea." Angel snapped. "It's also a pretty _stupid_ idea." He paused. "Do you think it'll work?" He turned to Wesley.

"I hope it does, because at the moment it's all we've got." Wesley stated. "It sounds risky, but it's good enough. With your strength we'll be able to get free in seconds... just hope that the sun isn't out tomorrow."

"Yeah, that would ruin things." Spike pouted. "And I was _itchin'_ for a good fight." Angel and Wesley stared at him, amazed that at this time fighting was all he could think about.

"Spike..." Angel began, not entirely knowing what to say. "Just... try and get some sleep, okay? Wes, you do the same. We can't be feeling tired tomorrow if we plan on getting away quickly."

"God, I just hope this works." Wesley sighed.

"God's not on our side, Wes." Spike said. "Nobody is."

Note: this chapter has been altered. Thanks MysticWolf1 for all your help.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Although I mentioned it at the end of each chapter, I feel it is necessary to mention MysticWolf1's contribution to this story. With their help I've seen errors in my work (and endeavoured to correct them) so hopefully this story will be much better than it was. As with requests – love interests might make their way in somehow, I'll just have to see. This chapter crosses back to present-day Wolfram and Hart where Fred, Gunn and Lorne are left behind.

**Chapter Seven**

Fred casually strolled into Angel's office; Gunn and Lorne in tow. As each entered the room they began looking around for Angel.

"Where's the big man?" Lorne asked.

"Did he have any meetings today?" Gunn replied with his own question.

"No, he would have told us if he wasn't gonna be in." Fred answered them both. "Wouldn't he?"

"There's nothing to worry about Freddikins, I'm sure he's just out doing business. Gotta keep this place running." Fred sighed.

"All right; I'll just leave my findings on his desk and he can talk to us all whenever he gets back... from wherever he's gone." Fred approached the desk and noticed an odd-shaped silver ball sitting on several papers. She stopped and looked at it closer.

"What is it Fred?" Gunn asked, making his way over.

"What do you suppose this is?" She asked.

"Fancy-looking paperweight?" He offered jokingly. Fred eyed him lazily. "What?" He protested to the remark.

"I think we should get this to Wesley..." Fred suggested.

"I haven't seen that man all day." Lorne commented. "He and Angel sure are busy little bees now they've taken up such important jobs here at Evil Enterprises."

"Lorne, we _all_ got something out of the move to Wolfram and Hart." Gunn replied. _I got a brain upgrade with all the knowledge of the law and more_; _Fred is head of the Science Department and runs her own lab;_ _Wesley is Mr. Research;_ _Lorne has connections with every superstar in the biz and Angel is in charge of it all._ "That gives us _all_ something important to do."

"I know Charles, but sometimes I can't help but wonder if we should have thought this through a little more before we decided to move here."

"We knew what we were getting into Lorne." Gun replied sharply. "We all did."

"Yes, I said I _know_, Charles." Lorne replied impatiently. "I'm just not so comfortable with the idea of meeting more and more evil characters; most of them are very unpleasant."

"It's all a part of the job, Lorne."

"Come on Lorne, do you really hate this job as much as you think you do? Look at where it's gotten you?" Fred offered.

"Well, I have got to meet some of my idols." Lorne said proudly.

"Well good for you." Fred smiled. "See, this place ain't so bad."

"I guess."

"Come on, let's go find Wesley." She picked up the silver ball from on Angel's desk, grabbed Lorne's hand as she walked past and led him down the hall to the elevator. Gunn watched the two leave; smiling at how happy Fred looked being here. The move was a good idea after all; he kept saying that to everyone.

"Wesley?" Fred called as they approached Wesley's office. "Wesley? Are you here?" There was no reply.

"Maybe he _and_ Angel are out somewhere together." Lorne suggested.

"It's possible." Fred looked at the object in her hands and saw the inscription on the top. She tilted her head and squinted, looking at it funny. Lorne saw and wondered what was so interesting.

"What is it Freddikins?" He asked.

"This inscription... I've seen it before." She explained.

"Seen it where?"

"In Pylea. There was one of these objects in the home of the woman I worked for." She placed it on the table carefully so as not to set it off; she knew what it did. "I think I know what might have happened to Angel."

Lorne stared blankly. "Care to share with the other kiddies?"

"This object is a time travel device." She began explaining. "When somebody reads the inscription on the top here, they are transported back in time to a milestone in their life." She pointed to the writing on the flattened top. "We found this on Angel's desk, so it's highly possible that he read the inscription and was transported back in time."

"Wait," Lorne looked at the writing. "I can't read that." He pointed out. "Can you?" Fred shook her head. "Then how could Angel read it?"

"I don't know, but maybe he had help from Wesley." She gasped. "If so, then Wesley is with Angel!"

"Fred, slow down there just a second. How on God's green and verdant Earth does this thing work? You said that Angel must have read the inscription, but it's not in English. And you say it took both Angel _and_ Wesley back in time?"

"Yes. I don't know how they managed to do it all; how they deciphered the text and how both of them ended up in the same place. I've seen it work once, but with only one person. I was outside and I watched through the window. She read the inscription, a light flashed and she was gone. I looked it up in some of her books while she was gone and found out what it did. I don't know where she went, but it was important. Wherever Angel is, it's an important time in his life."

"Lots of important things happened in Angel's life, sweetie." Lorne replied. "There was him meeting Buffy, when he met Darla, when he killedDarla... That's it! Maybe he was supposed to go back in time and _not_ kill Darla?" Lorne offered.

"I think there must be something a little bit more important that happened in Angel's life than killing Darla." Fred answered gently. "Anything else?"

"Uh... maybe when he sired Drusilla?" Fred gasped.

"Oh my God..." She moaned. "I know where he is?"

"Where?"

"When he got sired. The year... what was it?" She glared impatiently at Lorne.

"Um... I..." He thought for a moment. "Hang on..." Biting his lip Lorne worked out the year Angel became a vampire. "Oh! 1753!"

"That's where Angel and Wesley are." Fred concluded. "And we have to get them back."

A/N: A little short but I'm trying to find a new direction to take this in. It was moving a little slow, but now I have somewhere to go with this. Reviews are welcome as is constructive criticism.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Angel stirred, unable to sleep. He looked through to Wesley and Spike's cells to see Wesley leaning uncomfortably against the wall – awake – and Spike pacing around in his cell. And got to his feet from where he had been sitting against the wall and stuck his head through the bars to see Wesley.

"Wes." He whispered. "Psst, Wes." Wesley looked up.

"Angel? You can't sleep either?" Spike heard the two of them talking and joined the conversation.

"What time is it?"

Angel looked at his watch. "If my watch is right it's 1:34 am." He replied. Spike rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"We can't stay here any longer Angel." Wesley said. "We can't just wait to be led out of here."

"I know, but what do you suppose we do about that? Lucas over there is bound to be listening to us so we've got no chance of breaking out..."

"Oh yes we do." Spike looked down at his feet and the bars that disappeared into the floorboards. "Just give me a minute." He got down on his hands and knees and carefully lifted away three of the boards. It revealed the base of the bars, which Spike proceeded to bend until there was enough room to fit through. He bent a few more just to be sure that he could get out without making a noise then wandered over silently to where Lucas lay sleeping. He was a little surprised that the cop-in-training hadn't heard the metal bending.

"Spike!" Angel hissed in a loud whispered. "What are you doing?"

Spike tapped Lucas on the shoulder gently until he woke. "What? Huh?" Lucas stammered; then he saw Spike. "Hey!" Spike left-hooked him swiftly and he fell off his chair and collapsed on the floor. "Come on we don't have all night." Spike hurried back over to Angel and Wesley and instructed them on how to lift the floor boards.

Angel then was able to bend the bars of his own cell while Spike helped Wesley out. Once both men had crawled out they found some rope to bind Lucas' wrists with.

"This station has everything a good criminal could ever need." Spike commented. "Now all we need is something to gag him with." Wesley and Angel simply stared at him for a minute, a little surprised that Spike just jumped in to take care of everything. Then they realised that it was in fact Spike that they were staring at and their shock disappeared. Angel handed him a square piece of cloth which Spike tied around Lucas' head to gag his mouth.

"That wasn't as hard as you thought it would be now was it?" Wesley boasted to Angel. "I suggested using your vampire strength to break out."

"Don't start now Wes," Angel snapped. "Let's just get out of here.

At 2 am in the morning, Galway still was very much full of life. The pub was open and people were constantly leaving. As Spike, Wesley and Angel ducked behind buildings and around corners to hide, they saw some people Angel recognised.

"Lucy..." Angel murmured from behind one of the buildings; Spike and Wesley hiding behind him.

"Who?" Wesley asked.

"A girl I knew." Angel replied. "A girl I liked."

"She's nice, Angel, but we can't be worrying about girls right now."

"Liam?" The woman saw his face poking out from the shadows.

"Damn..." Angel scowled, stepped into the street as Wesley and Spike inched back. Angel approached the young girl he remembered all too well.

"Liam? I thought you were in the pub." Lucy said.

"I was," Angel answered, putting on his Irish accent instantly. "But I'm not now, I'm here with you."

She giggled. "I can see. So, how are things with your father?" She asked him.

"My father? Well... let's just say we don't get to see too much of each other anymore." Angel replied.

"That's a shame. I saw him earlier in the night and he said that he was looking for you. Did he find you?"

"Oh yes, but there's nothing to worry about, love."

"_Love_?" Lucy giggled again. "Well Liam, I'd best be getting home before my father realises how late I've been out. I'll be seeing you again soon then?"

"Oh yes, sooner than you think." Angel teased. Lucy smiled and curtseyed before heading home. Angel removed his accent as he backed into the alley. "It's not safe for her out this late..." He whispered to Wesley and Spike.

"Angel, we're supposed to be keeping a low profile, remember?" Wesley scolded.

"I'm sorry. She recognised me."

"She shouldn't have seen you." Wesley snapped.

"All right, let's just move okay?" Angel darted across the square to another building and Spike and Wesley followed after him quickly. From then on in they made sure that they stayed in the shadows.

"We need to head for the woods." Angel told the others. "We can hide out in some old caves I know of, and hopefully nobody will find us."

"Do any of the townsfolk know of these caves?"

"Not that I know of."

"Then we should be safe if they decide to come looking for us." Wesley answered. "That is, as long as they don't discover the caves during their search."

"If they think we're gone then they won't come looking for us. They'll leave the burden to another town."

"_Burden_?" Spike was hurt. "What are you saying, Angel?"

"I'm saying that if we're gone they aren't going to go to the trouble to trying to find us just so they can kill us. They'll leave to job for someone else. But nobody else will need to."

"Right." Spike settled.

"Take us to the caves Angel." Wesley instructed as Angel began leading them out of town. "There are only a few hours until sunrise and we need to be sure that these caves are suitable to hide in."

Within the hour the three had arrived at the caves. "Are they up to your standards Wes?" Angel asked.

"Yes, Angel." Wesley replied angrily. They didn't have time for petty squabbling. "We need to hide them a little though. If we gather some fallen branches then nobody will find the entrance."

"Works for me." Spike wandered off instantly, disappearing over a small rise between several trees. Angel and Wesley began gathering branches as well, large and small, and positioned them over the entrance to the caves. When the cave was basically concealed and matches the bushes and shrubs surrounding it, the three men removed one of the branches to make a door. Once inside they covered it up like there was no cave to begin with and made their way inside.

Wesley pulled a stick off one of the branches and clicked some stoned together to create a spark. In a few minutes he had created a torch, which made it perfectly clear to them that their cover was suitable. They couldn't see out.

Using the newly-made torch they headed deeper into the caves as the townsfolk began waking.

A/N: A warning to readers, it will be a little over a week before I can update again because I'm going on holiday. My apologies, but please feel free to review and tell me what you think of this so far. I'll update again as soon as I can.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: I know there have been some issues with some of the things in this story – mistakes that I have made – but I'm trying to make this just a simple time-travel story. I never planned it to be some extravagant multi-chapter masterpiece; just a short story. I didn't want to focus on tiny details so much, instead focussing on the storyline itself; but getting those two to fit together seems to be the difficult part. (Because I know that a good story needs both correct details _and_ a strong storyline) With tips from reviewers I'm trying to make this better, so thank you for your suggestions. I really want this story to work, so anything that people can offer to make it better and to make me a better writer are much appreciated. And now, on with the story.

**Chapter Nine**

Inside the caves Angel, Wesley and Spike discovered there was a fork in the tunnel. The three men stood puzzled as to which tunnel they should take.

"I say the left." Spike spoke first.

"No." Angel answered bluntly.

"Why the hell not?" Spike demanded.

"Bear."

"Bear?"

"That's what I said." Angel snapped.

"How do you know there's a bear down there Angel?" Wesley inquired.

"I told you I knew these caves." Angel answered. "There is a bear that lives down that tunnel." He gestured to the left. "We should take the right."

"Right tunnel it is then." Spike mumbled, leading Angel and Wesley away from where the bear was supposed to be. With darkness ahead of them and only the burning branch as their light, the three men soon found that the caves were seemingly endless. They could see only a few metres ahead of them, despite Angel and Spike's enhanced vision, and the echo of their shoes on the ground told them the caves went on for miles ahead.

"Should we just stop here?" Wesley suggested. "These caves are endless, and we only have to wait a day."

"Fine." Angel agreed. "Make yourself comfortable." He sat down on a low rock and leant against the cave wall, watching as Spike and Wesley sat on the dirt.

"So what are we meant to do to pass the time?" Spike asked, knowing that within the hour he would be bugging Angel and Wesley for something to do."

"Well, why don't we go over everything we know so far. Maybe we can make some more sense of it." Angel suggested.

"Okay." Wesley thought back over everything he'd learnt in the past day or so. "The ball was created by some_one _or some_thing_ as a time travel device – obviously. We don't know how or why it was created, or where the thing is that created it. All we know is what it does and what happened to the last people known to have had it in their possession."

"You said they died, right?" Angel asked.

"Yes. A young boy apparently stole the ball from an old man, gave it to the store I visited and then it was bought by another man who was wearing a brown robe."

"I wonder," Angel began. "What about priests?"

"Priests?" Wesley repeated.

"Yeah. I mean what if a member of the Church bought the item. Maybe someone somehow connected to Wolfram and Hart? You know, we saw the pictures in the police station."

"Yes, Angel, but how can Wolfram and Hart be connected to a town 200 years before the company even existed?"

"I don't know when Wolfram and Hart began as a law firm, but it wasn't as far as 200 years ago. That's just where _we_ came from. The powers behind Wolfram and Hart were around long before the company was formed. The Senior Partners. It's possible that they ruled _somehow_ back here in Ireland. Maybe within the Church..."

"It fits." Spike commented. "What you're saying, it works." He repeated as Wesley and Angel stared at him. "I knew of a rotten Priest back in my day in London. Right bastard he was..."

Angel and Wesley glared. "Maybe at nightfall we could break into the Church?" Angel offered.

"It's a promising lead that we can follow." Wesley agreed. "Are you two okay with that though? What about crosses and not being supposed to enter a sacred place like a Church?"

"I've done it before." Angel replied. "Just stay away from the walls."

"All right then. So at sunset we head for the Church. Can you show us where it is Angel?" Wesley asked.

"Yeah, it's in the middle of town. We'll have to sneak around a bit first though."

"More sneaking." Spike complained. "Can't we just try to blend in? I mean, we look like people from this time now. Can't we just walk around like we belong here?"

"But we _don't_ belong here." Angel answered. "We aren't from here and we aren't supposed to be here. If we can't find something in the church that tells us about the silver ball then we're pretty much screwed. We're not going to risk anything by acting like we belong here when we don't."

"But can't we just _act_ like we do? It would be easier to get around than trying to sneak around in the shadows." Spike continued.

"No, Spike." Angel snapped.

"Angel, he has a point." Wesley piped up. "What if we just walk around and trying to blend in with the nightly crowds. No one will suspect anything unless we try to hide ourselves. If we act normal no one will be suspicious."

Angel sighed. "You better hope it works then because if we get caught we're done for. Remember that the police will still be looking for us when we come back to town. If anyone recognises us then it's all over."

"I don't mean making ourselves stand out." Wesley added. "It's just, trying to hide would make us look more conspicuous. If we just casually make our way through town everything should work out okay. And once we're in the Church no one is going to care what we look like."

"All right, fine. I'm not going to stand a chance if you both agree. Let's just hope we don't get into any _more_ trouble."

A/N: Updating will be less frequent because of school; my apologies. I'm trying to fix this up so hopefully it is working out better than before.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Night fell and Wesley headed the trio as they left the caves. He moved a single branch to create a doorway, exited through it and proceeded to replace it after Angel and Spike had slipped through. Nobody would even know that there was a cave beneath all those branches.

Angel knew the sun had set only about an hour or two ago, but he also knew that if they were going to get anything out of this adventure they would need time meaning that they had to get moving. Also trying to blend in with the townsfolk would make things difficult seeing as how they were wanted fugitives... even if it was for a now minor "crime".

"Come on, we have to get to the Church quickly." Angel urged.

"Show us the way then." Spike sneered. Angel glared momentarily and led them through the woods and back to town.

"Since it was your idea Spike, try to blend in a bit, okay? Be normal." Angel said to Spike. The blond rolled his eyes and kept walking, digging his hands into dirty pockets in his trousers. "Ugh..."

"Shh." Wesley whispered, keeping his head down as a small crowd of several young women approached. "Keep your head down and turn left here." He quickly darted down a path and Spike and Angel quickly followed. The women giggled and continued on their way, thinking nothing of the three men they had hardly even noticed.

"How far is it, Angel?" Wesley inquired as he begun to walk normally, with his head and level height.

"Not far. About ten minutes walk, maybe fifteen."

"Okay. Let's just get there and find the information we need." Angel couldn't work out why Wes seemed so... jittery all of a sudden.

"All right." He answered uneasily, eyeing the Englishmen strangely. Wesley kept looking around as if he didn't belong. He _didn't_ belong, but he wasn't helping the situation.

"Wes, what's wrong? Why are you acting like this?" Angel asked.

"They arrested us, Angel." Wesley replied. "They arrested us, locked us up and we escaped. Even if we did leave town, they will still want us re-captured. Everyone in town is probably looking for us."

"Wes, I know you're concerned but you don't have to worry. They're not going to catch us. We're going to act normal, carry on as if there's no problem and they're not going to suspect a thing."

Wesley nodded. "I can't help but feel as though we need to be cautious, Angel."

"We do." The vampire quickly jumped in. "And we are." He sighed in slight frustration. "Wesley, let's just keep quiet until we get to the Church, okay?"

"Fine."

Several minutes later the trio arrived outside the Church. It was small, almost like a cottage with a cross on the steeple of the roof. Approaching the front doors, Wesley was the first to enter. Inside was a single room with a wooden floor and crosses nailed to the walls everywhere. Spike eyed each individual cross warily and Angel caught sight of his actions.

"Just stay away from the walls, Spike." He instructed, repeating an earlier comment he had made.

"So what are we trying to find here exactly?" Spike asked.

"We need to see if there are any people wearing brown robes." Wesley replied, strolling down the aisle. For such a small building, the Church was surprisingly spacious inside and was built like most modern-day Churches. There were pews, candles lining the walls and all the priest's cups and other Church-related stuff on a table out the front.

Obviously, Angel and Spike hadn't realised that from their times Churches were generally similar in interior design and structure to those 200 years in the future. Then again, they hadn't been inside a Church in quite some time, in Los Angeles, Sunnydale or anywhere else for that matter.

"Shh, someone's coming." Angel heard the footsteps outside, as did Spike. "Get on your knees." He quickly ducked in one of the rows, dropped to his knees and leant forward as if he were praying. Wesley and Spike instantaneously followed his lead, and a split second before the door opened the three men knelt praying.

Without looking up, they couldn't tell who was entering the building. However, out of respect, whoever it was didn't speak. They quietly made their way down the aisle and once they had reached the front wall drew the curtain covering the wall. Angel peeked and watched as whomever it was disappeared behind the curtain; assuming there was a door the person had slipped through. All Angel caught was the glimpse of a brown robe trailing behind.

Slowly getting to their feet, Angel, Spike and Wesley approached each other. "Did you see who that was?" Wesley asked.

"No. You?"

"I saw that they were wearing a brown robe." Angel offered. There was a few seconds where they all shared the same thought.

"I say we head out after whoever it was and pump some information out of 'em." Spike said what they were all thinking.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Angel agreed and broke free from the circle. He approached the curtain only to discovery there was no door behind it. There was nothing but a wall.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"What...?" Spike gasped, staring at the wall revealed by the drawn curtain.

"You did both see him, didn't you?" Wesley stared vacantly in confusion.

"Yeah. Didn't you?"

"Where'd he go?" Spike began patting the wall to see if it was a portal of some kind, with no luck. "He's gotta come back, right?" A glance was exchanged, one of shock and confusion. Then Wesley made the connection.

"Wolfram and Hart..." He sighed angrily. "Geez, now I get it." Spike and Angel stared blankly, not making the connection.

"Get what?" Spike queried.

"The Wolf, Ram and Hart pictures we saw in the Police Station." He began, reminding them of the pictures they had seen earlier. "When we knew that _somehow_ they must be connected to this. How else would the silver ball have ended up in Wolfram and Hart 200 years in the future without belonging to Wolfram and Hart to begin with?"

"But I thought we agreed that Wolfram and Hart didn't _exist_ back in this time." Spike reminded Wesley.

"Yes, but we also agreed that the Senior Partners, the ones behind the _running_ of Wolfram and Hart _were_ around in this time. That's what connects all of this; Wolfram and Hart. And clearly, whoever just disappeared behind this curtain used magic to get away; possibly to another dimension. It must have been somebody connected to Wolfram and Hart or the Senior Partners who created the ball that brought us here to begin with."

"Well, how are we supposed to go after him?" Angel inquired.

"We don't." Spike stepped in. "We wait until he comes back."

"Well we only have a few hours before sunrise so we can't stay here too long." Angel reminded Spike, who rolled his eyes.

"Look, Angel." Spike began. "We've been stuck here for two days now and so far we haven't even come close to figurin' out how to get back. If this leads us anywhere then I want to stay here until we figure out what the Hell we're gonna do to get back to Los Angeles."

"I understand what you're saying Spike, but as vampires we can only hang around here for so long... until the sun rises."

"Duh." Spike huffed.

"Then you'll know that by that time we have to be out of here, either with some information or none. You have to be aware that we could get nothing out of this."

"Yeah, but I'll take my chances." Wesley was getting impatient with the vampires' bickering.

"Guys, why don't we just start by looking around first for a bit? See if you can find anything in here." He suggested. The three separated and headed off to different sections of the Church. Angel stayed out the front, rummaging through a cupboard in the corner. As Spike and Wesley closely eyed the decorations on the walls looking for clues of any kind, Angel discovered an item that made his dead heart skip a beat.

"Hey, guys?" He called. "You might want to take a look at this." Spike and Wesley approached the cupboard as Angel pulled out a silver ball. It was resting on a thick leather-covered book, which Angel pulled out as well. Placing both items on the front counter, the three of them stared at the all-too-familiar object sitting before them.

"Is that...?" Spike didn't finish his question.

"It couldn't be the same one, could it?" Wesley asked Angel.

"I... I don't know. Maybe behind that curtain is how it got to Los Angeles?" Angel offered, a little puzzled at his own response. "I mean, whatever is behind that curtain could lead back to the future. To Wolfram and Hart."

"Are you saying that we could get home through there?" Spike gestured to the wall. "Well what the Hell are we waiting for?" He stepped forward and held his hand out, expecting it to be able to slip straight through the wall. His fingertips painfully hit the wall and he pulled back suddenly. "Ow." He said flatly but with emphasis, stepping back in defeat.

"Spike, maybe we're wrong." Angel said.

"Maybe, but so what? It was worth a try. We don't really have anything to go on right now, do we?" Spike snapped. "I'm tired of this Angel. I'm tired of being stuck here."

"Spike, we all are. But we don't know how to get back."

"We've done all we can right now." Wesley told them. "What else can we try?"

"How long did you say we've been here for?" Angel inquired about Spike's earlier comment.

"Two days." The blonde answered.

"Oh God..." Angel moaned.

"What? _Oh God_, What?"

"We have to be gone by tomorrow night."

"Why? What happens tomorrow night?" Spike and Wesley stared, completely forgetting what Angel had said when they first arrived.

"I become a vampire."


End file.
